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Hymnody as History: Early Evangelical Hymns and the Recovery of American Popular Religion

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

Stephen Marini
Stephen Marini
Affiliation:
Elisabeth Luce Moore Professor of Christian Studies atWellesley College.
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Extract

The hymns of evangelical Protestantism are the most widely used spiritual texts in American history. Sacred lyrics like “All hail the power of Jesus' name,” “Jesus, lover of my soul,” “How firm a foundation,” and “When I survey the wondrous cross” have been sung, preached, and prayed by millions of Americans since the eighteenth century. At worship, revivals, youth services, conferences, conventions, and colleges, and in the family circle, these hymns have been ceaselessly repeated in an unending round of living oral tradition. Since the Great Awakening two and a half centuries ago, the churches of the evangelical tradition have published tens of thousands of hymn texts and tunes. This continuous popularity since colonial times establishes hymnody as a crucial expression of American evangelical religiousness.

Type
Articles
Information
Church History , Volume 71 , Issue 2 , June 2002 , pp. 273 - 306
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 2002

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References

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